100-Word Review: Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
When I don’t have the time or inclination to write a full review of a movie, I’m going to offer a 100-word mini-review:
Cross-posted to Urban Vancouver.
After smoking some of New York’s finest, Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) have the munchies something bad. A TV commercial sets their minds on White Castle hamburgers. What follows are a series of zany misadventures that combine Road Trip with Cheech and Chong. Danny Leiner previously directed Dude, Where’s My Car?, so the humour is decidedly low-brow. Still, Cho and Penn have excellent chemistry, and if you can handle the usual misogynistic, homophobic and racist humour, you’re in for a good time. Plus, there’s a bathroom sequence that rivals American Wedding for most offensive fecal joke.
I’ve consistently admired John Cho’s work. If you haven’t seen it, I’d recommend Better Luck Tomorrow, a major independent film about a group of overachieving, suburban Asian-American teens who get decidedly criminal. Don’t let me confuse you, though. It’s not a ribald laugh fest, certainly, and has more in common with a movie like Thirteen (though it’s much better).
